What's the best free C/++ complier? One that has a nice GUI & can make simple programs for Vista? Thanks!

I just want a complier for messing around and trying to learn a bit more C++ on my own.

What's the best free C/++ complier? One that has a nice GUI %26amp; can make simple programs for Vista? Thanks!
VIsual Studio 2005 Express


It is free.


It includes SQL server, C++, C#, Visual Basic (VB.NET)


Visual Web Developer.





http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/express...





the 2008 beta version is here.





http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/express...








OK, let me spew my opinion.





Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates. He wrote an implementation of the BASIC language. I don't know if you remenber writing code like


10 go sub 100: for x = 1 to y: go sub 300:next x





Bill gates was language and development centric.


Now Bill is stepping down/aside. Business analysts look at the numbers and see that Windows and Office is their biggest money maker. Languages such as VB or VC probably brought in less than 1% of their revenue. Linux and open source came into the picture and there IS a definate alternate to windows for servers. The cost to get into developing is an issue as to the platform that developers will develop to. If it costs money to get the tools to develop for one platform, and it costs no money to develop for another platform, there will be more developers developing for the platform that it does not cost any money to start developing in. Developers are the people that specify the target platform that the system will run on. If the developers pick Linux as the target system, that is what they will sell to the end users. I am sure that Microsoft wants the developers to pick Windows.








The next big trend for applications is to be web enabled, or just be a web based apllication. The interface to allow links to every other system in the world is just too efficient to use.





So Microsoft needs to not loose their market to the Linux/Apache/MySQL server market which costs no money for developers to get into. How do they do it?





Microsoft takes their development software and makes it free just like Linux/gcc/Apache/Perl/Php/..... They want to sell Operating Systems for all of those servers. They have made the development environment so advanced that NOTHING compares. They have billions to spend in research and development, and they have spent their money well. They have also developed the .NET framework that is designed to best-of-practice standards.





Sun has developed java and its virtual machine. It is too strictly licensed and controlled by Sun for it to eventually win out.





The .NET framwork is simular to java, but it compiles into psuedo code when developed, and compliles into executable code on the target machine when it is installed and run for the first time. This allows the compiler on the target machine to look at the system and add all of the compiler options specific to the CPU on the production machine.








So forget the Linux/Unix -vs- Windows wars, I am a Unix/Linux die hard. I have come to the realization that the new tools from microsoft are just too good to ignore.





Microsoft does not want to loose the Operating System market. It also does not want to loose the Office sales. To protect those sales, it is giving away the development environments (which probably amount to less then 1% of their total sales) to ensure that developers will devlop targeting Windows. The cost of Windows can just be added to the total cost of the project, which is paid for by the customer.





Windows is less complicated to manage for the average person than a Unix/Linux based OS. Unix/Linux systems may be more efficient, but CPUs have become so fast that it is almost not even an issue anymore. Especially if the software on the Unix/Linux based system is running in java (as in java server pages), and the software on the Windows environment is based on .NET.





OK, I spewed
Reply:Microsoft's Visual C++ Express edition is free, and it runs on Vista.

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